Sheet-metal wheel or roller



E. s. MORTON.

SHEET METAL wHEEL oa ROLLER.

FILED 1ULY30,1919,

- eiEW/Zwm Patented heb. 13, 1923.

UNETED STATES f intesi FRED S. MORTON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHEET-METAL WHEEL OR ROLLER.

Application led July 30, 1919. Serial No. 314,215.

To all 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, FRED S. MonroN, citizen of the United States, residing at VVorcester, in the county of Worcester and State or" Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Sheet-Metal Wheel or Roller, of which the following is a specification.

. This invention relates to that class of wheels or rollers which are made of sheet metal and usually provided with bearing balls at the center.

The principal objects of this invention are to provide a construction in which the web and rim can be formed of two pieces o1' met-al only, one half ot the web being integral with the rim and the two halves secured together in any desired way; to provide a construction in which the usual cylindrical rim will not have to be made separately; to provide a form which can be made by ordinary simple die stamping operations; and to provide a construction in which the rim will be double, the exterior being backed up bya rigid layer beneath, and provided with integral means on one edge for holding the two halves firmly together.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a wheel or roller constructed in accordance with this invention; and

Fig. 2 is a central sectional view o1 the same.

Many designs of wheels both of sheet metal and other material have been devised, but in most cases the web is formed of two pieces of metal and the rim is formed of a third piece tting over them and consequently liable to become loose after use. This invention is designed to do away with a considerable amount of die work required for the wheel and to reduce the number of pieces required for the main part ot the work.

l have shown the invention as applied to a construction embodying a hub 10 provided with a circumferential groove 11 in which bearing balls 12 travel. The ball race is completed on the outside by two members 13 of hard metal of any ordinary construction. These parts 10, 11, 12 and 13 can be of any well known construction and do not constitute apart of this invention.

The web of the wheel is formed of two pieces or" sheet metal 14 and 15. This preterably is soft metal which can be operated in dies. These two halt webs are secured together by rivets 16 or in any other desired way and are provided with concave flanges 17 for supporting the ball race members 13.

The two main members 14 and 15 of the wheel or roller are turned outwardly at their outer ends to form two cylinders 18 and 19. These two cylinders are of the same thickness and the same diameter and constitute inner treads. The cylinder 19 is cut off square at the edge 20 which constitutes the termination of this side of the roller. The cylinder 18 projects the same distance the other side. Then in addition to this a continuation of the edge, which at first is cylindrical and of the same diameter as the cylinder 18, is turned back over it to form the external rim or tread 21. This is twice as wide as the cylinder 18 so as to cover the cylinder 19. It also. has a projection 22 which at first is merely a straight end 23 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

The piece 15 is slipped into the cavity made inside the tread 21 up against the web 141 and secured in place and then the edge 23 is bent o-ver all around against the flat edge of the cylinder 19 so as to hold the parts iirmly together.

It will be seen that the tread 21 is in contact with the rigidly supported cylinders 18 and 19 throughout nearly all of its internal circumference and that it is firmly fixed and locked to it at the edge besides being riveted through the web if that is desired, but the riveting can be omitted in some classes of work on account of the positive manner in which the two parts are sccured together at 23.

Any pressure applied to the exterior surtace ot. the tread 21 that may be excessive is received by one of the cylinders 18 or 19 which backs up the tread. One of these is integral with the tread and the other practically fixed to it as if it were integral.. That is they receive the pressure and distribute it without danger of the parts becoming loosened under any pressure within that for which the wheel is designed, and furthermore on account of its rigid construction the wheel can be made to stand the usual pressure without using as much metal as has beenthe case heretofore.

0n account of having the rim or tread formed of a double thickness of metal in this way it is exceptionally strong even if the die work is not accurate enough te bring the parts into absolute Contact as described above. ln other' words it will be a very strong construction even when niade with slight inaccuracies. The assembling of the parts is of the simplest character.

Although l have illustrated and described only one forni of the invention I am aware of the fact that inodiiications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing Jroni the scopo of the invention as expressed inthe claim. rlherefore l do not wish to be liinited to all the details of construction herein shown and described, but what I do claini is:-

As an article oi manufacture, a wheel comprising a web formed of two pieces of metal contacting with each other both being turned outwardly at their' outer periphery to form two cylindrical inner treads oi' exactly the saine diameter and width, one of said inner treads being turned backwardly to form an integral cylindrical outer wearing tread engaging the exterior surface of the two inner treads throughout their area and havinga circular projection on its edge and rounded over to correspond with the shape of the offset edge.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

reni) s. Mon'roN. 

